sinovels Chapter 41 The Auction Begins on Zhang Island
Chapter 41 The Auction Begins on Zhang Island
The next day, when Chen Ye arrived at the Gong family's territory, he learned some news that surprised him.
"Is your young lady in seclusion?"
Chen Ye looked at the maid opposite him, intending to say goodbye to Gong Yuechan in person, but as luck would have it, Gong Yuechan had already gone into seclusion to cultivate three days ago.
"Yes, Young Master Chen." The maid, who was about sixteen years old and had a pretty face, nodded and said.
"However, our young lady instructed that if you wish to leave Golden Phoenix Island, you may do so on your own. She has already informed the clan elders."
If a member of a clan outside the clan wishes to leave Jinwu Island, they must first obtain the consent of an elder of the Gong family; any elder will suffice.
Chen Ye's visit to bid farewell to Gong Yuechan may have been motivated by a desire to ask for her help, but he never expected that she would have already taken care of it for him.
"In that case, I would like to trouble you, young lady, to convey my gratitude to your mistress after she has finished her seclusion."
Chen Ye thought for a moment, then bowed respectfully towards the pavilion in the distant bamboo forest before turning and leaving.
However, just as Chen Ye left, a slender figure slowly walked to the window of the pavilion, gazing at Chen Ye's departing back and letting out a soft sigh.
"Although this person's cultivation has progressed rapidly in recent years, due to his low-grade spiritual root, he will only be able to cultivate to the late stage of the Spirit Gathering realm in his lifetime. Why do you value him so much?"
Behind her, Gong Qingru, dressed in a light gauze dress, spoke with a hint of confusion.
"Aunt, you are mistaken," Gong Yuechan shook her head, gazing out the window.
"There are tens of millions of cultivators in the Abyss Sea, and there may be some with low-grade spiritual roots who break through to the secret realm."
"Heh... I hope he's one in a million."
Gong Qingru chuckled lightly, clearly not taking her words seriously.
"Alright, let's not talk about this." She waved her hand, then changed the subject, her beautiful face showing a hint of seriousness.
"Chengye has begun his fourth seclusion. The clan leader said that he has distracting thoughts and if he does not break through this time, he may never have another chance."
Gong Yuechan's heart sank upon hearing this.
The three failed attempts to break through not only wasted a lot of resources but also greatly increased the external pressure on the family.
After all, the Gong family still has too few hidden experts, especially when facing the Zhou family, which has a history of hundreds of years. If it weren't for the remaining prestige of the upper sect, they probably would have already taken action against the Gong family.
"My cousin... I can't blame him for being impatient."
Gong Yuechan sighed. Although the family had transported the corpses of the ten Zhou family cultivators, as well as the demon-hunting crossbows obtained from the calamity cultivator, to the Qiling Sect, and the Qiling Sect had also sent disciples to the Zhou family to give them a stern reprimand, it was still unknown how long they could keep the Zhou family in check…
…………
Seven days later,
Five thousand miles away from Jinwu Island, a small spirit boat, about four or five zhang long and light blue in color, slowly sailed into the Qianzhang Island dock.
A tall, handsome young man in a blue robe stepped off the spirit ship. He was Chen Ye, who had traveled five thousand miles across the sea.
As for the spirit ship he was piloting, it was a spoil of war seized from the raiding cultivators. After being repaired by the Gong family's treasure ship workshop, Chen Ye only spent a little over two hundred spirit stones to buy it.
Upon stepping onto Qianzhang Island, Chen Ye's gaze was immediately drawn to the towering giant trees on the distant mountains.
Although Qianzhang Island contains a second-order spiritual vein, no spiritual plants or trees grow on the island.
Only one type of tree, called "Giant Camphor Tree," grows exceptionally tall, with any one of them reaching forty or fifty feet in height. This is the origin of the name Thousand Camphor Island.
"This Thousand Camphor Island truly lives up to its name."
Chen Ye sighed, then took out a beast-hide talisman from his pocket, activated it with spiritual power, and swept it at the mid-grade spirit boat docked on the shore. With a flash of white light, the spirit boat was put into the talisman.
This talisman is called a "storage talisman" and costs twenty spirit stones. It can temporarily store small spirit boats less than five zhang in size, but it can only be used more than ten times and cannot be destroyed by external forces, otherwise the spirit boat will disappear into nothingness.
The island's Qianzhang City is not far from the dock, and since the auction is not scheduled to start for another few days, Chen Ye plans to find a place to stay in the city first and familiarize himself with the situation.
It's called a city, but it's actually just a larger market town with a surrounding wall. And because of the auction, cultivators entering the city have to pay a gate fee.
Fortunately, it's not much; just one low-grade spirit stone will suffice.
Chen Ye handed over the spirit stones and strode into the city. He saw that the city was bustling with people, and the shops on both sides of the street were one after another. At first glance, it seemed to be even more lively than the markets opened by secret families like the Gong family.
"It seems this auction has indeed attracted quite a few people, but the more people there are, the higher the probability of finding a spirit fire."
Chen Ye thought to himself, and then he found an inn called "Shuiyue Fudi" in the north of the city and checked in.
This inn is specifically for cultivators. The name sounds nice, but the environment is just average.
Also due to the auction, the price, which normally costs only one spirit stone a day, has now tripled.
Chen Ye calculated the days and handed over twelve spirit stones in one go. Anyway, the auction would start in three days and he could stay overnight after it ended, so there was no need to keep exchanging them.
Over the next few days, Chen Ye would frequently go out to inquire about any news of the spirit fire. If he could buy it in advance, he wouldn't need to participate in the auction.
Unfortunately, Chen Ye wasn't very lucky. Perhaps this thing was indeed quite rare. For three days in a row, he didn't see a single spirit fire, let alone a spirit fire talisman.
"We can only wait for tomorrow's auction."
At night, Chen Ye suppressed his distracting thoughts and continued his cultivation as usual.
.........
The next day, Chen Ye got up early, ate something casually outside, and immediately headed to the auction venue.
The auction house was located in the very center of Qianzhang City. It was a huge three-story building. When Chen Ye arrived, cultivators were lining up to enter.
This auction is of a high standard; participants must demonstrate that they possess more than one hundred spirit stones or items of equivalent value in order to enter.
After all, there are quite a few poor cultivators who come to join in the fun, and if just anyone could enter, no matter how big the auction house was built, it wouldn't be able to accommodate them all.
When it was Chen Ye's turn, he showed the spirit stones he had prepared to the burly rogue cultivator guarding the venue and then entered smoothly.
"Immortal Master, here are auction jade tokens and masks. You may choose any one."
A servant boy carrying a tray reminded him.
This auction was organized by the independent cultivators on Qianzhang Island, and most of the items sold were shady things, so the cultivators who came to participate in the auction were naturally unwilling to reveal their personal information.
Although the mask can only block vision, a special array was set up in the venue to prevent divine sense from probing, which can be considered as taking care of the guests' privacy.
Chen Ye casually chose a mask, and then, led by a mortal servant, sat down at the spot corresponding to the jade tablet, quietly waiting for the auction to officially begin.